History Film / Spirited2022

* AccidentalMisnaming: The Ghost of Christmas Present struggles to remember Tiny Tim's name. He goes through "Little Larry", "Micro Mike", "Super-Small Steve", and "Itsy Witsy Isaac", much to Briggs' frustration.

** One of the guests at Briggs' party is dressed as [[Film/{{Elf}} Buddy the Elf]], another Christmas character portrayed by Creator/WillFerrell (Present). [[SelfDeprecation Present says he looks stupid]].

* BackFromTheDead: Present has the option of a "retirement" package involving a Sephora gift card, a gold watch, and the opportunity to be returned to life. [[spoiler:With Briggs' convincing, he takes his package in the third act.]]

* BerserkButton: This movie's example of ParentheticalSwearing but PlayedForLaughs. When a taxi driver says "Good afternoon" to Briggs and Present as they exit the taxi, Present almost pulls the driver out of his car before Briggs stops him.
* BeyondRedemption: Present is initially denied the chance to haunt Briggs because his dogmatic cynicism has him labeled as "Unredeemable". Marley is convinced by Present to let the haunting go ahead anyway because of the good someone like Briggs could do and they've managed to change an unredeemable in the past. [[spoiler:As it turns out, Present was that very unredeemable, Ebenezer Scrooge, and his interest in trying to change Briggs ties in with his own insecurities that he might not have fully changed himself.]]

* CurseCutShort: The trailer ends just in time to cut off Briggs' "Holy sh[[spoiler:it]]" over Present's inability to remember Tiny Tim's name.

* DistractedByTheSexy: Past has a clear infatuation with Briggs. When it comes time for her to haunt him, he manages to charm and seduce her. Following the sex, she refuses to return to haunt him, citing the potential awkwardness, forcing Present to take over her shift.

* HopeSpot: [[spoiler:After Briggs gets hit by the bus and is knocked into the back of a pickup truck, he can be seen pulling himself out, apparently no worse for wear. Then both he and we see the remains of his limp body are still there, telling us that he has, in fact, died.]]
* HumansAreBastards: Briggs is a firm believer in this; this is why he's labeled as unredeemable by Marley and why he refuses to play ball with the spirits' attempts to redeem him. [[spoiler:He eventually changes his mind after his experiences.]]

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Inverted. In a flashback, Briggs correctly predicts that one day, everyone will have Twitter on their phones.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: [[DownplayedTrope He's still an absolute asshole]], but while Briggs is manipulative and sleazy, he also genuinely enjoys helping out people he personally knows. [[spoiler:He also doesn't think he deserves the title of "redeemed" after just saving a child, pointing out that not letting a child commit suicide is such a low bar that he hasn't actually earned anything yet. By the end of the night, however, he's fully come around and become the new Ghost of Christmas Present]].
* ManipulativeBastard: Briggs. His PR company specializes in creating controversies to benefit his clients. He is introduced at a convention for Christmas tree growers, where he explains that to boost their sales, they need to portray the decision to buy an artificial tree as a "War on Christmas" issue. He uses his manipulative abilities several times over the course of the film in an effort to get out of his own haunting... and he nearly succeeds.

* MetaSequel: As Jacob Marley explains the situation to him, Briggs interrupts his song to ask if he means like in the original ''Christmas Carol'' story, while also bringing up [[Film/{{Scrooged}} the Bill Murray movie]]. It's also revealed midway through the movie that [[spoiler:Present was actually once Ebenezer Scrooge, having spent the centuries after his redemption helping others the same way he was helped]].

* MusicalWorldHypotheses: The afterlife is a diegetic example - an onboarding liaison for new recruits to the spirits' organization tells the recently deceased team member that the afterlife is basically one big musical and the spirits are all aware of their numbers. The living, meanwhile, operate on Alternate Universe rules: Briggs' first musical number is a big flashy performance with elaborate sets and backup dancers that all disappear when he finishes singing. Once Briggs' haunting begins, it becomes diegetic for him as well, and he even comments after "Good Afternoon" that he didn't know the choreography and was just following Present - by the end, he's fully part of the musical.

* NotInFrontOfTheKid: During the "Good Afternoon" number, when Present sings about his "Dickens", Briggs tries to stop him, because there's a baby right in front of them. Present sorrowfully apologizes to the baby's mother, but before she leaves, the two shout "[[SubvertedTrope Good afternoon]]" at her anyways, causing the baby to cry.

* TheReveal: A doozy of one comes up midway through the movie: [[spoiler:when he was alive, Present was considered an "unredeemable" like Briggs was… in fact, he was none other than Ebenezer Scrooge himself.]]

* SpontaneousChoreography: {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d during the "Good Afternoon" number by Briggs, who admits he was only copying Present's dances. Present also admits that he "messed up a bit in the middle".
* TheStinger: [[spoiler:After the credits, there is a scene of Mr. Ateli (the cruel hotel manager the ghosts were gonna haunt before finding Briggs), about to berate his employee again… just as his own haunting begins.]]

* TakeThat: During his initial confrontation with Marley, Briggs questions why the ghosts are bothering him when they could be going after murderers, racists, or "people who do gender reveal parties".
* ThisIsForEmphasisBitch: [[spoiler:The Ghost of Christmas Yet-To-Come quite literally throws Briggs out of his own haunting with a vicious "You’ve been Christmas Caroled, bitch!"]]
* TimeStandsStill: Early in the film, when Karen is redeemed, time freezes so that all the ghosts can come out and congratulate her. [[spoiler:This happens again when Briggs saves Present from being hit by the bus.]]

* TrailersAlwaysLie: The trailer shows Present talking with Briggs talking about how he saved Tiny Tim. [[spoiler:This is deliberate misdirection to hide that Present is actually Scrooge and he was discussing how his stinginess almost got Tiny Tim killed.]]

* YouCanSeeMe: While observing Briggs at work, Present finds himself surprised when his assistant Kimberly is able to see and talk to him, as he and his fellow spirits are supposed to be invisible. Past and Briggs later suggest that this was done unconsciously by Present due to his infatuation with Kimberly.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Clint dies after pushing Present out of the way from an oncoming bus and only mere moments after he reconciles with Owen and Wren. However, he is reunited with Carrie in the afterlife and becomes the new Ghost of Christmas Present, is in a relationship with Past, and he uses his new position to add more holidays to the roster so the Spirits can redeem several perps per year instead of just one. Also, he is able to visit Present, Kimberly and their kids in the mortal realm, and it's implied he also visits Owen and Wren regularly]].

** It's heavily implied that Clint doesn't like overly racist people, as when his haunting begins, he complains that the spirits are wasting their time on him instead of trying to redeem racists or murderers. Thing is, [[MoralEventHorizon they don’t bother with actual unredeemables.]]

** Midway through the movie, [[spoiler:when Present reveals he was Scrooge when he was alive, he admits he died three weeks after his redemption, which is why he’s dedicated his afterlife to helping mortals get the second chance he didn’t have the chance to use]]. [[spoiler:Clint's redemption is solidified [[HeroicSacrifice when he shoves the newly-mortal Present out of the way of a bus]], dying and becoming the new Ghost of Christmas Present in the process, allowing him to do the good he couldn’t perform in his mortal life]].

* {{Nephewism}}: Wren is being raised by her Uncle Owen because her mother Carrie died five years prior. [[spoiler:Carrie initially wanted Clint (who is older than Owen) to be the one to raise her, but he knew he wasn't parent material]]. Clint does still help out financially, though.

** It's heavily implied that Clint doesn't like overly racist people, as when his haunting begins, he complains that the spirits are wasting their time on him instead of trying to redeem racists.

* TinyTimTemplate: Josh, Wren's competition for school president, is a very interesting Zigzag of this trope. He is portrayed as a pretty nice and moral kid, but there are moments that show he's not a perfect angel like Tim was. He feeds homeless people with his family, but a deleted Website/TikTok he made that Kimberly dug up shows that he found the homeless people gross. This is justified, as he is ''a kid'' and he posted this two years ago, meaning he likely would have changed since then, as many characters point out. However in the present, when his dad suggests posting a picture of him helping out the homeless could help him in the election, Josh hesitates, saying he doesn't want to come off like he's in it for the votes. He ends up posting it moments later. This allusion to Tiny Tim is played straight during [[spoiler:Clint's vision of Christmas Future, where it shows that if Wren posts the video, Josh will be DrivenToSuicide, much to Clint's horror.]]

** [[spoiler:Kimberly ends up leaving Clint's employment, like her Christmas Carol counterpart Bob Cratchit does at the end of the [[Series/AChristmasCarol2019 2019 adaptation]] when he decides leaves Scrooge's employment.]]